David McElroy

Most educated and informed Americans will cast a vote for president by the end of the day Tuesday. I won’t be among them. I know quite a number of intelligent, informed and principled people who will also decline to vote. I’d like to explain my reasons — and I’d like to suggest that you consider joining us as non-voters.

For as long as you can remember, people have preached to you about your duty to vote. You’ve been told that a good citizen should vote. You’ve been told that it doesn’t matter who you vote for, as long as you vote. And you’ve been told that every vote counts. There are even elaborate emails that people spam each other with that tell all the alleged cases in which one vote could have changed history. (Never mind that the examples are a pack of lies. People who have agendas don’t need to worry about facts.)

The “majority rules” system is a civic religion, and voting is the ultimate act of worship. When you vote, you are showing your allegiance to the government, whether you intend to or not. The very fact that you participate legitimizes the system. Your participation says, “I believe this is a morally right way to decide who gets power.” After all, if you’re willing to vote for your candidate’s right to hold power, how can you be claim that the other candidate doesn’t have the right to hold power when he wins?

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I’ve had a cold for a couple of days, but it seems to be turning into a sinus infection. As a result, I really haven’t felt like writing. I had planned to have my last article about the election Friday, but it’s either going to show up later in the day Friday or maybe even over the weekend.

I’m going to take some NyQuil and go to bed to sleep for as long as I can. I’ll get back on my current schedule when I’m back among the living.

This is a bit of a follow-up to the piece earlier today about random acts of kindness for strangers. In Hoboken, N.J., many homes still don’t have power, so cellphones are lifelines to the rest of the world for many people. The people who live in one home that has power wanted to help those who don’t have power, so they ran power strips out to the street and put up a sign inviting people to charge their phones. (Click on the photo for a bigger copy.)

This doesn’t cost as much as the tires in the earlier example, but it’s the spirit that matters. For people whose phones have died, this little gesture is worth far more than what it’s costing the homeowner. Many people do try to help others. Sometimes we just need to be more open to see what’s going on.